Vehicle seats generally consist of a seat cushion for being seated by a passenger or occupant, and a seatback for supporting the back of the occupant. Some seats include an armrest provided on a lateral portion of the seatback, and a hook member is provided on the armrest for allowing baggage or articles to be hooked on the hook member. A typical example of such vehicle seats is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication (JP-A) No. 10-194045.
In the vehicle seat disclosed in JP 10-194045A, the armrest includes a body covered with a skin layer and is pivotably mounted to undergo pivotal movement in forward and backward directions about a shaft member fixed to the lateral portion of the seatback.
A cushion material enclosing a body of the armrest has a recessed portion formed therein at a part around the shaft member, the recessed portion being recessed in a widthwise or lateral inward direction of the seat in such a manner as to surround the shaft member. The hook member for hooking the baggage is fitted in the cushion material so as to close the recessed portion. The hook member includes a bottom portion covering a bottom of the recessed portion, a cylindrical portion extending from an outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion in a lateral outward direction of the seat, and a baggage engagement portion extending upwardly from a lower part of a peripheral edge of the distal end of the cylindrical portion for allowing the baggage to be hooked thereon.
The hook member provided on the vehicle seat shown in JP 10-194045 is not fully satisfactory in terms of mounting strength because baggage that can be hooked on the hook member is limited to a relatively light-weight article.
With the foregoing prior problem in view, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle seat provided with a hook member having an enhanced mounting strength.